Machines for manufacturing sausages and franks on a mass production basis have been in existence for sometime. A typical machine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,747 issued Mar. 4, 1975. These machines typically use a pump to force a meat emulsion through an elongated stuffing horn, wherein the meat emulsion is discharged into an elongated casing which is thereafter rotated and linked to create the completed sausage or frank.
It is well known that the movement of the meat through the stuffing horn can impose damage to the emulsion. This problem in the art is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,364 issued Nov. 25, 1975, commencing in column 1:
"In all cases, it is necessary to use a stuffing tube or horn to handle the casing and because of the tube it requires substantial pressure to extrude the meat. The substantial pressure required is due to the wadding effect of the meat moving through the stuffing tube similar to the effect of a cleaning rag being pushed through the barrel of a gun. The longer the stuffing tube, the higher pressure required to push the meat product. A pressure of 100 pounds per square inch is normal to extrude most sausage products while 150 to 200 pounds per square inch (even up to 400 pounds per square inch for certain forms) is not unusual."
"One of the biggest problems with the stuffing and linking of sausage product is meat damage. This damage varies with the type of sausage and the conditions under which it is handled, such as temperature, pressure, rate, etc. and some of the more fragile products are almost impossible to handle without at least some damage."
The invention of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,364 was to introduce a lubrication fluid within the stuffing horn so that the fluid would form a film of lubricant between the inner surface thereof and the meat emulsion. This was a substantial improvement in the frank and sausage making art.
However, the methods and devices of the prior art which were intended to introduce the lubrication film within the stuffing horn have not been succesful because they have been unable to uniformly create a film of fluid completely around the meat emulsion within the stuffing horn.
The amount of liquid used is so small that it is difficult to distribute it evenly over the entire surface of the horn without getting too much one place and not enough other places.
A second problem is that the horn must be pulled back and forth to allow a new casing to be fed onto it, and to do this there needs to be a continuation of the horn, or at least an attachment means that fastens to the inlet end of the horn in order to pull it back and forth. This link or attachment interferes with a continuous crack all the way around the horn which prevents even distribution of the liquid lubricant.
There are possible ways of attaching to the end of the horn and still providing a continuous crack around the meat channel or horn, but it usually involves a diameter of the hole through the horn mount or block that is larger than the horn.
One way of securing a link to the end of the horn and still provide a continuous crack round the meat channel of the horn is to provide a hole through the mounting block that is larger than the diameter of the horn. This is very objectionable because when the horn is pulled back through the block, an open clearance is left around the block which oozes or leaks the sausage until the horn moves forward again.
Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a method of lubricating the passage of meat emulsion through the stuffing horn of a meat emulsion encasing machine wherein a film of liquid lubricant can be continuously and uniformly imposed within the entire inner surface of the stuffing horn to facilitate the movement of the meat emulsion therethrough.
A further object of this invention is to provide a means of lubricating the passage of meat emulsion to the stuffing horn of a meat emulsion encasing machine wherein a film of liquid lubricant will be uniformly and continuously formed around the meat emulsion on the entire inner surface of the stuffing horn.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a method and means of lubricating the passage of meat emulsion to the stuffing horn of a meat emulsion encasing machine wherein the meat emulsion can be either flavored or otherwise treated with a releasing agent to enhance the flavor of the meat emulsion, or to facilitate the subsequent removal of a casing in which the meat emulsion is deposited.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a method and means of lubricating the passage of meat emulsion to the stuffing horn of a meat emulsion encasing machine wherein the lubrication fluid surrounds the meat emulsion before the emulsion enters the stuffing horn.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a method and means of lubricating the passage of meat emulsion to the stuffing horn of a meat emulsion encasing machine wherein the meat emulsion will not leak from the mounting block for the horn when the horn is retracted.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a method and means of lubricating the passage of meat emulsion to the stuffing horn of a meat emulsion encasing machine wherein the flow of lubrication fluid is simply and efficiently controlled by a control valve imposed on the upstream side of a pressure pump that injects fluid into the stuffing horn.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.